Tue January 30 2018

The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, today announced 23 new appointments to the Order of Ontario, the province's highest honour.

The 23 new members of the Order of Ontario include:
Internationally renowned pediatrician Dr. Upton Allen, whose approaches to treating hospital-borne diseases have prevented the deaths of countless children
...

Celebrated science-fiction author Robert J. Sawyer, who has published 23 novels and is a champion of the Canadian fiction industry.

Fri January 26 2018

"Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) president and CEO Doug McMillon and Rakuten, Inc. Chairman, president and CEO Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani met in Tokyo today to announce a new strategic alliance that leverages each company’s unique strengths and assets to expand consumer reach and enhance how customers are served in Japan and the U.S."

"In addition, Walmart and Rakuten Kobo Inc. have formed an exclusive retail alliance that will enable Walmart to begin selling eBooks and audiobooks, as well as offer Rakuten Kobo eReaders, in Walmart stores and online at Walmart.com in the United States starting later this year."

Wed January 17 2018

I looked in on the book club discussion about Dorothy Sayers' Whose Body, having read it in the past, but realized I'd forgotten more than I remember about the book so I didn't participate in the discussion. However, I was interested in the discussion that was raised about anti-Semitism in the book. Treatment of servants was also mentioned.

Pretty much any fiction written decades or centuries ago will have attitudes that are different from today with regard to women's rights, racism, treatment of gay people, servants, slavery, etc. Does this affect whether you will read a book written 100 or more years ago?

When I have read older books I have tended to think "well, that's they way they thought at the time" and read it anyway. If I were going to think too much about women's lives in the early 1800's I wouldn't be able to enjoy reading Jane Austen's novels, where some of the women would potentially be in financial hardship if they didn't find suitable husbands.

However, I'm sure there are plenty of books with much more egregious treatment of a particular race/class/religion/etc. and now I find myself wondering what it would take for me to not read the book.

Have you ever stopped reading a book (or refused to start, based on what you've heard about it) based on such issues?

Fri January 12 2018

I've got lots of e-readers, and I love them all. I am very pleased that Kindle are pushing in the direction of physical buttons. I hope we are entering a post-touch-screen phase in the tech world. I like that Kobo are paying attention to the colour of light on their devices - with the popularity of apps like flux and operating systems having similar functions integrated as standard, I am sure warmer colour temperatures will be something coming as standard on most e-readers.

What do you think e-readers will be like ten years from now?

Colour screens are an obvious way forward. Do you think this will take off?

Will e-ink continue to dominate? Will it develop to offer quicker response times, thereby allowing PDF documents to be read more conveniently?

What other possible developments are there that may or may not happen?

Do you think e-readers will be influenced by the emerging 'smart home' or 'internet of things' trend in the tech world?